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150 Indonesian children sing as one in livestreamed charity concert
A father-daughter musical duo were behind the National Children's Day concert, held in a partnership with UNICEF Indonesia to raise funds for children in need.
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ndonesian composer Erwin Gutawa and his daughter, singer-songwriter Gita Gutawa, went through a gruelling process over a month and a half to gather together hundreds of children for an online charity concert.
One of the top recurring issues in Indonesian society over the last three months of COVID-19 restrictions and self-quarantine was the difficulties parents experienced in keeping their children active and engaged. Unlike adults, children are easily distracted and need guidance in using applications for online classes and other activities.
Despite the challenges, Erwin and Gita succeeded in their efforts to hold the virtual children's concert Konser Virtual Di Atas Rata-Rata: Kami Anak Indonesia (Above Average Virtual Concert: We Are Children of Indonesia) to mark National Children’s Day, which falls on July 23 each year.
The concert was part of Erwin and Gita's Di Atas Rata-Rata (Above Average; DARR) project, initiated in 2011 to promote and support young Indonesian musicians.
“We always knew that Indonesian children are very talented, and we wanted to give them a platform to show what they can do,” Erwin said on July 24 at a virtual press conference.
The July 25 concert was streamed live on the YouTube channel of Indonesia Kaya, the cultural news and events portal supported by the Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation.
The concert featured 150 children from all over Indonesia who performed nine vocal and instrumental pieces of different genres, from classical to traditional.
The opening number was the DARR theme song, “Jangan Remehkan” (Don't Underestimate Me), written by Erwin and Gita. Several singers specializing in different vocal genres collaborated in performing the song to illustrate what Erwin called the concert's "colourfulness".
The father-daughter duo also delighted the fans of DARR with the surprise mid-concert appearance of singer Nada Badra, who was part of a previous generation of DARR child musicians and singers. She sang “Tak Perlu Keliling Dunia” (There's No Need to Travel the World) by film producer and director Mira Lesmana.
Nada was accompanied by 10-year-old Regy Setiawan on the Sundanese suling (bamboo flute) and 15-year-old Norman Jefferson on the violin in a pop arrangement that integrated the traditional Indonesian woodwind and the classical string instrument.
Another notable performance was the emotional rendition of the patriotic song “Tanah Airku” (My Homeland) by 11-year-old solo singer Gracia Sapronia from Timika, Papua.
Her performance struck a different chord because Indonesia's easternmost province is one of the poorest in the country and it has recently been in the spotlight in connection with #PapuaLivesMatter, the Indonesian equivalent of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.
For “Janji Untuk Mimpi” (Promise to a Dream), Erwin and Gita held an audition as an Instagram cover challenge using the hashtag #JanjiUntukMimpiChallenge. Children across the country uploaded their covers of the song, which the father-daughter duo originally wrote for Lyodra, the winner of the Sanremo Junior 2017 in San Remo, Italy.
“One thousand children took part in the challenge. We were overwhelmed because they were all very good singers,” Erwin said.
In the end, Erwin and Gita selected five singers from among the challenge's participants: 7-year-old Losia Catanyadira, 10-year-old Sheera Katya, 12-year-old Nadinda Titania, 13-year-old Chelsea Jove and 15-year-old Morietnez Azra.
“Aku Anak Indonesia” (I'm an Indonesian Kid) closed the virtual concert, featuring the video streams of 100 children in dozens of regions.
Erwin said it took a month and a half to curate and organize the collaborative concert. He and Gita were both managers and talent scouts, while individual coaches led the children in group rehearsals
All auditions for the concert were held on social media.
“By moving to social media [platforms], the recruitment process of this virtual concert was much more inclusive than previous DARR projects,” said Gita.
While collaborating on and training for the concert was gruelling, Erwin said that it was still an enjoyable process despite the difficulties.
“We tried not to burden the children and their parents, so we did not ask them to rent a music studio for practice or recording sessions. We encouraged them to sing and play music at home [using] the equipment they have,” he said.
DARR partnered with UNICEF to help children in need through the concert, which was open to donations from viewers for the duration of the livestreamed performance.
“Our tagline is ‘Dari anak Indonesia, untuk anak Indonesia’ (From Indonesian children for Indonesian children), which is why we partnered with UNICEF,” said.
“The main issue we want to tackle is education in remote areas. We can’t even imagine how education is like in those areas, especially during the pandemic,” she said.
The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
